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REMARKS 



ON THE 



PUBLICATION AND CIRCULATION 



OF THE 



SCRIPTURES 



REMARKS 



ON THE 



PUBLICATION AND CIRCULATION 

OF THE 

SCRIPTURES: 

SUGGESTED BY REV. W. P. STRICKLAND'S HISTORY OF 
THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, AND PUBLISHED AS A 
REVIEW OF THAT WORK IN THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER 
FOR NOVEMBER, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE. 

BY 



-•. 



GEORGE LIVE MORE 



CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 

M DCCC XLIX. 



■ ■ > a 












History of the American Bible Society, from its Organization to the Present 
Time. By W. P. Strickland, one of the Society's Agents. With an In- 
troduction by N. L. Rice, D.D., of Cincinnati. Embellished with a Like- 
ness of the Hon. Elias Boudinot, LL. D., First President of the Society. 
New York : Harper & Brothers. 1849. pp. xxx. and 466. 



REMARKS 



ON THE 



PUBLICATION AND CIRCULATION 



OF THE 



SCRIPTURES. 



Voltaire, elated by the rapid progress of infidel princi- 
ples in his day, predicted, that, in the nineteenth century, the 
Bible would be known only as a relic of antiquity. In a few 
months, one half of the century will have passed ; and, from 
present indications, it does not appear probable that his pre- 
diction will be verified. A glance at the world, with refer- 
ence to the interest now felt in the Bible, affords no reason 
for apprehension or discouragement. At the time when the 
sad prophecy was uttered, there were, it is supposed, but 
about five millions of Bibles in the world. Now, according 
to the best estimates, the number will not fall much short of 
fifty millions, and the interest lately manifested for the cir- 
culation of the sacred Scriptures finds no parallel in former 
times. The organization of Bible societies for the purpose 
of supplying, as far as practicable, the whole world with the 
record of Divine revelation, may be regarded as one of the 
noblest enterprises of modern times. Through their agency, 
millions of the human race have received the sacred volume, 
and many, we hope, have been thereby " made wise unto 
salvation." 

The British and Foreign Bible Society may properly be 
regarded as the parent of all similar institutions now existing 
throughout the world. Some feeble attempts to establish 
Bible societies had previously been made ; but their opera- 



tions and success were comparatively small. That society 
was formed in 1804, and has issued twenty millions of copies 
of the Bible. We do not propose, at this time, to dwell 
particularly on its history. There is one incident, however, 
connected with its operations on this continent, during the 
last war with Great Britain, which is worthy of being re- 
called. A very full account of the transaction is given by 
the Rev. J. Owen, in his History of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. We are obliged to abridge the account to 
bring it within our limits. 

In the month of June, 1813, a supply of Bibles and Tes- 
taments, destined by the British and Foreign Bible Society 
for the inhabitants of Nova Scotia, was captured by an 
American privateer, brought into Portland, and there sold 
and dispersed. As soon as this fact became known to the 
Bible Society of Massachusetts, a determination was taken, 
by the managers of that institution, to replace the value of 
the Bibles and Testaments ; their secretary was directed to 
ascertain, by correspondence, to whom the amount of the 
property captured should be transmitted, and to express the 
regret of the Massachusetts Bible Society that such an oc- 
currence had taken place. In the mean time, a subscription 
was opened at Boston, to raise a sufficient sum, without di- 
verting the funds of the Massachusetts Bible Society from 
their regular object ; and such was the eagerness manifested 
by the citizens of Boston to shake off from their country 
the disgrace of this transaction, that, in the course of a few 
days, double the sum required was contributed, and it might, 
as appears, have been easily increased to an almost indefinite 
amount. A sum sufficient to cover the cost of the Bibles 
and the expense of insurance was transmitted to the British 
and Foreign Bible Society, accompanied by a letter from the 
Rev. S. C. Thacher, of which the following is the conclu- 
sion: — 

" We have thus done what we can to express our shame and 
regret at this occurrence, and to repair the evil which it has oc- 
casioned. We indulge the hope that we shall not again have to 
number it among the calamities of a war in which we cannot 
cease to regret that two nations, allied in feelings, habits, inter- 
ests, language, and origin, should be engaged, that it counteracts, 
in any degree, the exertions of any of the charitable institutions 
of Great Britain, or tends to loosen or break that golden chain 
of mutual benevolence, which ought to bind together the disci- 



pies of Christ, of every nation and clime, without regard to polit- 
ical animosities." * 

The Society whose history Mr. Strickland has just pre- 
pared is second only, of its kind, in the amount of its re- 
sources and the magnitude of its operations, to " The British 
and Foreign Bible Society." There is probably no other 
institution in the country whose history would interest so 
large a number of readers, of every party and sect, and of 
every degree of intellectual culture. All denominations of 
Christians, who make, or profess to make, the sacred Scrip- 
tures the ground of their faith, must desire to know some- 
thing of the success which has attended the efforts to place 
the Bible in the hands of all who are capable of reading its 
pages. It was highly proper, therefore, that such a work 
should be prepared for the public ; and the author's position, 
as one of the Society's agents, would seem to give him that 
interest in his subject, and that familiarity with the details 
which it involves, which are so necessary to the historian. 

The American Bible Society was organized in May, 1816. 
A convention of delegates from different parts of the coun- 
try assembled for the purpose, at New "Vork. They repre- 
sented various forms of Christian faith. It was the first time 
since the settlement of the country that the different relig- 
ious denominations had been brought together for concerted 
action. 

Mr. Strickland says : — 

" They presented to the world a model of an evangelical alli- 
ance, having for its basis the true catholic doctrine, — the Bible, 
— God's revelation to man, the only and sufficient rule of faith 
and practice, — the right and duty of private interpretation. The 
great object for which they had assembled was, not to investigate 
its claims as a rule of faith, or to debate the question of the right 
of private judgment, but to enter at once upon the work of de- 
vising means for its universal circulation, without note or com- 
ment, among all nations, of whatever name, or country, or caste, 
or color, 'excluding, by its very nature, all local feelings, party 
prejudices, and sectarian jealousies.' They declared themselves 
4 leagued in that, and that alone, which calls up every hallowed, 
and puts down every unhallowed principle, the dissemination of 
the Scriptures in the received versions where they exist, and in 
the most faithful where they may be required. In such a work, 

* Owen's History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Vol. II. p. 488- 



whatever is dignified, kind, venerable, true, has ample scope, 
while sectarian littleness and rivalries can find no avenue of ad- 
mission.' " — p. 30. 

Notwithstanding the liberal spirit which called them to- 
gether, there was, at one time, danger that a division might 
arise and frustrate the object of the meeting. Dr. Beecher, 
in a communication which he has furnished to Mr. Strickland 
respecting the origin of the Society, gives the following strik- 
ing account of the matter : — 

" There was but one short moment in our proceedings when 
things seemed to tangle, and some feelings began to rise. At 
that moment Dr. Mason [Rev John M. Mason, D. D., of New 
York] rose hastily, and said, 'Mr. President, the Lord Jesus 
never built a church but what the devil built a chapel close to 
it; and he is here now, this moment, in this room, with his finger 
in the ink-horn, not to write your constitution, but to blot it out.' 
This sudden address convulsed the convention with laughter, 
which in a moment dispelled the storm and revealed a clear sun, 
which instantly perceiving, he said, 4 There ! there ! he has 
gone already to his blue brimstone ! ' " — pp. 26, 27. 

The particular cause of the danger thus singularly and 
successfully removed is not stated. No other difficulty 
arose to interrupt the harmonious action of the Society, 
until the year 1835, when an unhappy collision with the 
Baptists, in relation to the rendering of the word fianTLfa 
in the foreign translations, led to a division. The Baptists 
seceded, and organized the ct American and Foreign Bible 
Society." We shall allude to this subject again in another 
place. 

The American Bible Society has two separate objects to 
accomplish: — first, to extend the circulation of the com- 
monly received English version in this country ; and sec- 
ondly, to supply, as far as practicable, translations into the 
various spoken and written languages of the earth. 

" The first field, both in regard to order and importance, in 
the estimation of the Society, in reference to occupancy and 
cultivation, was the home field. During the first year of the 
Society's operation, eleven thousand five hundred and fifty copies 
of the Bible were printed, and six thousand four hundred and 
ten copies were sent out from the Depository and distributed all 
over the country, from Maine to Georgia, and from the Atlantic 
to the Mississippi, carrying joy and gladness to the destitute in 
many desolate places." — p. 74. 



The income of the Society has been steadily increasing, 
and the issue of Bibles has kept pace with this enlargement 
of its means. In 1848, the number printed was seven hun- 
dred and sixty thousand nine hundred. The number issued 
was six hundred and fifty-five thousand and sixty-six. 

" Through its faithful allies, the auxiliaries, the Society has 
sent the Bible into every nook and corner of our land. It has 
circulated it in every State and Territory, in every county, and 
city, and village. In the Sabbath school and common school, 
in the college and seminary ; in the hotel and asylum, and hospi- 
tal and prison ; among soldiers, and sailors, and slaves ; on sea 
and on land, at home and abroad, everywhere has it, in its be- 
neficence, sent the Gospel of salvation." — p. 80. 

Notwithstanding the great, and, to some considerable de- 
gree, successful efforts of the Society to supply our country 
with the Bible, there is still room for further labor in this 
field. Mr. Strickland presents some facts in regard to Bible 
destitution which are likely to startle the reader. In the 
State of Virginia, he says there are fifteen thousand families 
destitute of the Scriptures. 

" In Western "Virginia, nearly one half of the white families 
were without the Bible, and this is put down as a low estimate 
by those who have made the exploration." — p. 296. 

" [In] Ohio, the third State in the Union, filled with an active 
and enterprising population, second to none for her zeal in the 
promotion of schools and churches, and amongst the earliest in 
the Bible field, there is a destitution amounting to about one fifth 
of the families in the State." — ib. 

" In Massachusetts, there are hundreds of families unblessed 
by the light of the written Word. Plymouth county, for ever 
consecrated as the spot where pilgrim feet were permitted for 
the first time to stand upon a free soil, was explored about 
three years since, and hundreds of families were found without 
the Bible. One would think this a fancy sketch, were it not 
sustained by cold New England facts." — p. 295. 

Several other specific instances of Bible destitution are 
given, showing that much yet remains to be done in our own 
country. In a population of twenty-two millions, there are, 
according to our author, at the least calculation, one million 
five hundred thousand destitute to be supplied. Although 
the fact does not appear in the work, we presume that the 
greater part of these are foreign immigrants. 



8 

The constitution of the Society requires that its issue of 
English Bibles be confined to the version in common use, 
and generally known as King James's version. We shall 
have a remark to make by-and-by, qualifying the prevailing 
opinion which attributes to King James the suggestion and 
patronage of this version. This restriction, however, to a 
commonly acknowledged or standard version is a wise pro- 
vision of the constitution. Though this version is far from 
being faultless, it is perhaps as good a one as could be 
agreed upon by those most interested in the circulation of 
the Bible. The proposition for a new version w 7 ould be 
likely to lead to a controversy that would do more harm 
than good. Yet it appears to us, that some slight verbal 
alterations, not affecting any disputed doctrine, might be 
made by the general consent of the various denominations 
represented in the Society. The orthography and punctua- 
tion have sometimes been corrected, more truly to express 
the original meaning of a sentence. Why may not some 
verbal alterations be made for the same reason ? We would 
not advise an alteration in any case, except where the present 
translation is obviously erroneous, or where the meaning of 
words has changed in the progress of time. Some words, 
not in common use at the present day, have been changed, 
by the English editors of the Bible, for others more easily 
understood, and the changes have been adopted in this coun- 
try. We give a few instances. In Deuteronomy i. 11, 
for "moe," we have "more." Jeremiah xv. 7, "sith" 
is changed to "since." Luke i. 37, " unpossible " is al- 
tered to "impossible." Acts xxi. 11, " oweth " is altered 
to " owneth." Acts xxviii. 13, "fet" to "fetched." 
There are, however, many words still retained, which ought 
to be altered. Take, for instance, Exodus xxxviii. 8. No 
reasonable person could object to the substitution of u mir- 
rors," for " looking-glasses." Yet this singular rendering 
has been continued through all the editions. The transla- 
tors considered the terms synonymous. True, all looking- 
glasses are mirrors, but all mirrors are not necessarily look- 
ing-glasses. In this case the mirrors were of brass, and 
were used for the purpose of making the brazen laver : — 
u And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of 
brass, of the looking-glasses of the women," &c. No one 
supposes that a miracle was performed in this case. Yet by 
the present rendering a miracle is required. 



Another restriction in the constitution requires the copies 
of the Bible circulated by the Society to be " without note or 
comment." How far the retaining of the translators' state- 
ments of the contents of each chapter and the heading of the 
pages trespasses upon this provision, may admit of some dif- 
ference of opinion. We wish they were entirely omitted ; 
for they are not sufficiently expressive and accurate to be val- 
uable as helps to the reader, they are very imperfect as sum- 
maries of the contents of the chapters, and in many cases 
they embarrass the sense, and pass unwarranted decisions on 
the doctrinal or historical meaning of some passages. 

We have already intimated that King James has no just 
claims to be considered the originator or patron of this trans- 
lation. He, in fact, had very little to do with it, except to 
alloio it to be made and published. The credit of first pro- 
posing a new translation belongs to the Rev. Dr. John Rey- 
nolds, a Puritan divine of Oxford. The king merely ac- 
ceded to the proposition, and accepted as satisfactory a list 
of persons named by others as translators. Robert Barker, 
the printer, paid the entire expenses attending the translation. 
Not a shilling came from the purse of King James or from 
the English treasury. When it was completed, no procla- 
mation of the king or act of Parliament commanded the 
use of this version. It came into use gradually, and in less 
than half a century superseded the Genevan and Bishop's 
Bibles, which were at first its principal rivals.* 

This version has attained a preeminence, in point of circu- 
lation, not only over all other translations of the Bible in 
every language, but over all other books. Between twenty 
and thirty millions of copies are now in circulation, accord- 
ing to the most reliable estimates. The sun in his circuit 
shines upon no land where this book is not known and read. 

In England, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 
and the royal printer in London, claim the exclusive right 
to print the authorized version of the Bible without note or 
comment. This odious monopoly has been the cause of 
considerable complaint ; but all attempts to extend the privi- 
lege of printing the Bible have proved unavailing. Various 
expedients have been adopted to evade the penalty for in- 
fringing this prerogative. One of the most ingenious meth- 
ods of doing this is the printing of one or two lines of notes 

* Anderson's Annals, Vol. II. p. 384. 
2 



10 

or comments at the extreme Toot of the page. There being 
no restriction on Bibles published with a commentary, the 
printer thus escapes a fine. The Bible may be sold in 
sheets or boards, and the binder can, if he chooses, cut off 
these notes without injury to the volume. The exclusive 
prerogative was long claimed by the crown, on account of the 
supposed patronage originally extended to the translators by 
King James. The propriety of continuing this monopoly 
has been warmly advocated for another reason. It has been 
supposed, that, by thus limiting the number of authorized 
printers of the Scriptures, greater accuracy in printing would 
be secured. Notwithstanding the great care which has been 
exercised in this respect, many singular typographical errors 
have occurred at various times. In one of the early editions, 
the little, though important, word "not" was omitted in 
the seventh commandment. In another edition, the first verse 
of the fifty-third Psalm reads, — " The fool saith in his 
heart there is a God," instead of " no God." In an edition 
printed in 1819, by the king's printer, 1 Corinthians viii. 6 
reads, — " to us three is but one God," instead of " there is 
but one God." 

In 1638, an error occurred in printing Acts vi. 3, which 
was copied in several subsequent editions. The word u ye " 
was accidentally printed instead of " we." This apparently 
trifling error has sometimes been unjustly charged upon the 
Independents and Presbyterians, as a wilful corruption in- 
tended to favor their particular views of church government. 
The venerable presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church 
in the United States has recently revived this oft-refuted 
charge, and traced to its introduction a long list of deplorable 
consequences.* But his premises and conclusions have been 
proved to be false in every particular. 

Great Britain did not allow the printing of the English 
Bible in this country whilst we were mere colonies. The 
first English Bible bearing an American imprint was published 
in 1782, within the memory of some persons now living. 

The second object of the American Bible Society is to 
supply translations of the Bible for foreign lands, and for the 
various Indian tribes in our own country. This is by no 
means an easy work. Where satisfactory vernacular ver- 
sions existed, they have been very properly adopted, and 

* See " The Motto of Jubilee College, &c," Vol. I. No. 7, May 22, 
1849. 



11 

editions of them have been printed or purchased for gratui- 
tous distribution. But where a version is to be made for an 
Indian tribe with no written language, or a people whose 
language is but partially understood by the translator, the task 
is one of great difficulty, and, w 7 e cannot but think, of doubt- 
ful utility. It appears to us at quite too much stress has 
been laid on the importance of these translations. What a 
vast amount of precious time and talent was lost in the pro- 
duction of that monument of patience and zeal, Eliot's In- 
dian Bible ! Yet not a man living can now read its pages. 
If a tithe of the toil and expense bestowed on that volume 
had been spent in teaching the Indians the first rudiments of 
the English language, and the first principles of the Christian 
religion, more good would have been accomplished. 

The difficulties attending the translation of the Bible into 
the modern Oriental languages are very great. With the ut- 
most care, the translator cannot feel sure that he has selected 
the right words to express the sense of the original text. A 
protracted controversy, not yet concluded, between the trans- 
lators and missionaries in China, shows the importance of a 
more thorough knowledge of the language before a transla- 
tion of the Bible is made. One party maintains that the 
Hebrew word Elohim (God) has been rendered by a Chi- 
nese word, embracing not only the idea of the one true God, 
but also including numerous other lesser deities. 

Rev. Mr. Malcom, in his visit to Asia, in the year 1836, 
discovered some singular instances of errors in the transla- 
tion of the Bible. He says : — 

" The anxiety for an immediate production of books has caus- 
ed the publication of Scriptures and tracts so imperfect, as to be 
almost, if not quite useless, and in particular passages quite erro- 
neous. To prove this, and at the same time show the sort of 
errors to which I allude, I will give a few instances which were 
mentioned to me, taken from distinct and different versions. John 
i. 1 : 'In the beginning was the word, and the word was with the 
Lord God Boodh, and the word was the Lord God Boodh.' Exo- 
dus iii. 2 : ' The Lord appeared :nto him in a flame of fire, in the 
knot of a tree.' Acts i. 8 : l Ye shall receive the power of life 
and death.' Matthew v. 3 : ' Blessed are the destitute of life.' 
1 Cor. v. 6. 'A little crocodile crocodileth the whole lump ' ! " * 

The most singular, if not the most ridiculous and absurd, 
attempt to adapt a version of the Scriptures to the capacities 

* Travels in Southeastern Asia, Vol. II. p. 255. 



12 

of the ignorant, was made by the British and Foreign Bible 
Society when they printed a version of the New Testament 
for the English negroes in Surinam. These negroes have no 
distinct language, but speak what is called Talkee-talkee, a 
strange lingo, compounded of original African words, of 
clipped and softened English words, and of violently-treated 
Portuguese words. Their missionaries, the Moravians, in- 
stead of attempting to teach the negroes pure English, or 
Dutch, recommended and urged the Bible Society to print 
an edition of the New Testament from a manuscript version 
which had long been in use at Surinam, in the abominable 
patois spoken by the slaves. Great benefit was predicted to 
result to the missionaries and their converts from the under- 
taking, though the Society brought upon itself smart censures 
and much ridicule for the seemingly irreverent and ludicrous 
character of the volume which they published. It was very 
elegantly printed in octavo form, large type, in London, in 
1829. Nearly all of the copies were transmitted to the peo- 
ple for whose use they were prepared, and their arrival and 
distribution among the negroes caused great excitement. A 
very few copies were retained in England, as bibliographical 
and philological curiosities, and they have now become very 
scarce. One of them was recently offered to the public, in 
London, at the sale of the library of the late Duke of Sus- 
sex, and was sold for three pounds ten shillings. Its origi- 
nal cost could not have exceeded two or three shillings. 

We have a copy of this extraordinary volume of gibberish 
before us, and have looked it over for the purpose of finding 
a specimen which shall have in it nothing more offensive than 
what characterizes the whole of the work. The reader may 
form some just idea of what specimens might be selected 
when he is told that the word virgin is rendered, in this ver- 
sion, wan njoe wendje. 

We will take a few verses from the benedictions, Matt. v. : — 

" 1. Ma teh Jesus si da piple, a go na wan bergi tappo, a go 
sidom, en dem discipel va hem kom klossibei na hem. 

" 2. En a hoppo hem moerTe, a leri dem, a takki : 

" 3. Boenne heddi va dem, dissi de poti na hatti : bikasi Gado- 
kondre de vo dem. 

"4. Boenne heddi va dem, dissi de sari na hatti: bikasi hatti 
va dem sa koure." 

Which we may venture to translate half way back again 
into English as follows : — 



13 

" 1. But when Jesus see the people, he go after one moun- 
tain-top, he go sit down, and them disciple for him come close 
by after him. 

" 2. And he open him mouth, and learn them, and talk : 

" 3. Good is it for them, these the pretty in heart, because 
God's country is for them. 

"4. Good is it for them, these the sorry in heart, because 
heart for them so cheery." 

Perhaps we should ask pardon of our readers for having 
thus given what may seem to some of them a burlesque of 
Scripture. But our purpose has been good. Is it wise for 
missionaries to repeat any labors which may seem to make 
any approach to these extreme examples of accommodating 
the Bible to the ignorance and barbarism of some of the ob- 
jects of their evangelical efforts ? Did not the pastor Ober- 
lin take the better course when he taught pure French to the 
dwellers in the Ban de la Roche, instead of adopting their 
own patois 9 

It appears that the American Bible Society has already, 
at an expense of three hundred thousand dollars, assisted in 
translating, printing, and circulating the Bible in upward of 
fifty different languages. It may be doubted whether a great 
amount of good has been accomplished by expending so much 
on foreign translations, whilst a wide field for our own vernac- 
ular version is unsupplied. 

Mr. Strickland states in his Preface, that be has made no 
attempt whatever at embellishment, his object having been to 
present a plain, unvarnished narrative of facts, as they have 
occurred in the operations of the Society. For this purpose 
he consulted with great care the printed reports, circulars, 
and letters of instruction issued by the board, from time to 
time, and embracing a period of many years. He found, that, 
to give full and intelligible information in regard to almost any 
important topic connected with the Society, the whole field 
of its operations must be searched, and the scattered frag- 
ments, lying here and there, must be gathered up and arrang- 
ed. This required no small amount of patient care and la- 
bor, and the author is entitled to the thanks of the public for 
the apparent fidelity with which he has performed his work. 
He has presented, in a concise and convenient form, a great 
number of facts of much interest to the reader. In another 
edition, which, from the general interest felt in the subject, 



14 

we presume will soon be called for, we venture to suggest 
that an improvement in the arrangement of his matter may 
easily be made, by transferring to the Appendix, where they 
properly belong, the constitution of the Society, the long 
list of officers and agents, the catalogue of books in the li- 
brary, and the details of donations to the Society. 

In matters relating strictly to the history of the American 
Bible Society, we are willing to receive the accounts of Mr. 
Strickland as correct, without any other than a general refer- 
ence in the Preface to his authorities. But, beyond this, we 
think the author should have furnished notes and references 
to enable the reader to verify or correct his statements. We 
notice several errors, not very important certainly, yet show- 
ing a carelessness in these minor matters by no means justi- 
fiable in one who attempts to state historical facts with minute- 
ness. 

In his first chapter, Mr. Strickland says: — cc Seventeen 
years before the landing of the Pilgrims, the translation of 
the Bible by King James had been made, and the edict by 
Henry the Eighth which restricted its reading to royalty, and 
barred access to all the rest of mankind, was revoked, and 
the living oracles were opened to all who could procure 
them." — p. 18. 

As King James's translation first appeared in 1611, and 
the landing of the pilgrims was in 1620, it is not easy to dis- 
cover by what process in arithmetic the author makes the dif- 
ference in these two important events to be seventeen years. 
Nor did the statute of Henry the Eighth restrict the read- 
ing of the Bible to royalty. Noblemen, gentlemen, and mer- 
chants being householders, were permitted to read the volume 
on certain conditions, and whatever restriction had been im- 
posed was soon removed. Numerous editions of the vari- 
ous versions were issued during the reigns of Edward the 
Sixth and Elizabeth, and it was partly on account of this 
varietjr and the desirableness of having a uniform standard, 
and partly on account of the king's dislike to the Genevan 
or Puritan version, that he consented to the translation, or, 
more properly, revision, which is now in common use. 

On page 136, Mr. Strickland says : — " In 1526, William 
Tyndale translated the New Testament, and, eleven years 
afterwards, the entire Bible." Applying once more the 
simplest of arithmetical rules to the author's statements, it 
will be found that he asserts that Tyndale translated the en- 
tire Bible in the year 1537, — a period some time after his 



15 

death. The fact is, Tyndale never translated the entire Bi- 
ble. He contemplated doing so, but, being imprisoned and 
put to death on account of his heretical opinions, was not 
able to accomplish his purpose. The edition referred to is 
sometimes credited to T) r ndale from the circumstance that 
the initials " W. T." appear at the end of the Old Testa- 
ment, " as if," says Lewis, " it was all translated by him, 
though this is not true." (p. 106.) John Rogers, the proto- 
martyr in Queen Mary's persecuting reign, was the editor of 
this Bible, under the assumed name of Thomas Matthews. 
The opinion of the king relative to the circulation of English 
Bibles was not at that time considered sufficiently favorable 
to render it safe for the editor to place his real name upon 
the title-page. This error, of attributing to Tyndale the 
translation of the entire Bible, may have originated with 
Strype. It has often been repeated. But a contemporary 
historian states the matter so explicitly as to leave no room for 
doubt as to the part performed by Tyndale. Hall's Chron- 
icle was published during the reign of Henry the Eighth, 
and but a few years after the death of Tyndale. The 
author says :— u William Tyndale translated the New Tes- 
tament, and first put it into print ; he likewise translated the 
five books of Moses, Joshua, Judicum, Ruth, the books of 
Kings and books of Chronicles, Nehemiah, and the first of 
Esdras and the prophet Jonas : and no more of the Holy 
Scripture." # 

On page 335, in the catalogue of books belonging to the 
library of the Society, the author gives the following title : — 
"Eliot's Indian Bible, 1635." Two editions of this re- 
markable work were issued ; but the former of these was not 
printed till more than a quarter of a century after the date 
named above. 

In the same catalogue, on page 336, we find " New Testa- 
ment, Tyndale's Version, 1526." If there be such an edition 
of the New Testament in the library, the Society have se- 
cured a very great treasure. The only perfect copy of the 
edition heretofore known to be extant is in the library of the 
Baptist College in Bristol, England ; and so valuable was it 
esteemed by the former proprietor, that he settled a life an- 
nuity of £20 on the fortunate discoverer of the volume. 
Probably the copy in the Bible Society's library is of the 
English reprint of 1836, or the American one of 1837. 

* Newcome's Historical View of English Biblical Translations, p. 24. 



16 

On page 140 the author says : — " The authorized printers 
of the Bible at Oxford University published a facsimile of 
the first edition of King James, in order that it might be 
compared with modern editions." This is not correct, inas- 
much as the first edition was a folio volume printed in black 
letter, and the reprint is of quarto size and Roman letter. All 
modern editions are, or should be, verbatim reprints of the 
first ; the one alluded to by Mr. Strickland was a literal re- 
print, the original orthography, which has been commonly 
modernized in recent editions, being restored. 

Giving the author all due credit for intended impartiality, 
we cannot but think he has sometimes erred in his manner of 
alluding to other denominations than that to which he belongs, 
which is the Methodist. Not that there is any bitterness or 
severity manifested toward others, unless it be in the case of 
the Roman Catholics. Yet we would prefer, in a work of 
this kind, that the reader should not discover, from the cas- 
ual remarks of the author, in what direction his prejudices 
and predilections tend. Something may be pardoned in a 
person writing on the subject of the diffusion of the Scrip- 
tures, for speaking warmly of the opposition experienced 
from the Roman Catholics ; but the personal allusion to a 
Roman Catholic bishop in one of our cities as " having a face 
to suit all political phases," is certainly in bad taste, if not in 
bad spirit ; and the charge of supposed ignorance against the 
same bishop is an unfortunate one for the author. Mr. 
Strickland says: — ct He might have been ignorant of the fact, 
that the first Congress printed and circulated the Bible. 
Had he been as conversant with the history of this country as 
he is with monkish legends and Latin masses, he certainly 
would have known the views," &c. 

Now, in fact, neither the first Congress, nor any subse- 
quent one, has ever printed and circulated the Bible. In 
1777, a resolve respecting the importation of Bibles was 
passed in Congress by a bare majority, — seven States voting 
in the affirmative, and six in the negative ; but, as appears 
by the printed journal, the further consideration of the matter 
was postponed, nor does it appear ever again to have been 
resumed. The only edition of the Bible with which Con- 
gress has ever in any way been connected was one printed 
and sold in 1782, by Robert Aitkin, of Philadelphia. It was, 
however, a private enterprise. At the request of the pub- 
lisher, Congress appointed a committee to examine the work, 



17 

and passed a vote recommending it to the public, not because 
of its expense or elegance, for it was a very ordinary edition, 
but merely to aid the publisher. But to state that Dr. 
Beecher, Bishop Mcllvaine, and the other respectable per- 
sons whose certificates of recommendation appear at the end 
of Mr. Strickland's volume, printed and circulated the u His- 
tory of the American Bible Society," would be no more of 
an error than the implied assertion in the above quotation. 

Should the Roman Catholic bishop see the work, what 
will he say to the author's statement on page 138 : — " In 
1609 the Rhemish version was made at Douay" ? Perhaps 
he may ask, in return, if the Oxford Protestant Bibles are not 
printed at Cambridge, — if St. John's Gospel was not writ- 
ten by Matthew, or Milton's Paradise Lost by Shakspeare.* 

On page 21 we find the following sentence: — u In all 
Catholic countries, it [the Bible] is a condemned and pro- 
hibited book." Yet there are many statements in the 
volume which contradict this assertion. On page 170 we 
read, — " There is but one diocese in Mexico [a Catholic 
country] which prohibited the circulation of the Bible." 
" In France there are hundreds of priests engaged in the 
work of distribution." u In France, nominally a Papal coun- 
try, the word of God has an unrestrained circulation." (p. 
185.) Concerning the Spanish colonies of South America, 
where the Catholic religion prevails, we find, on page 179, — 
u The demand for the Scriptures continued to increase in all 
parts of the country ; persons of rank in church and state 
became interested in their perusal, and multitudes were seen 
with avidity to purchase and read the word of God." 

We regret that the author should have indulged in a tone 
of disparagement, whenever he has alluded to the Roman 
Catholics. Probably no denomination of Christians in our 
country has less sympathy with the Church of Rome than 
that to which we belong. Yet we deprecate this course from 
principle and from policy. It is unjust and unwise. Let us 
use all the opportunities afforded by the Roman Catholics 
for spreading the Scriptures among their people, and encour- 
age them to grant us still greater opportunities, by showing 

* Mr. Strickland is not the first Protestant writer who has thus blundered 
respecting the name of the Roman Catholic version of the Bible. The 
New Testament translated at Rheims in 1582 is not improperly called the 
Rhemish Testament. But the Old Testament — and the whole Bible after 
1609, the year when it was translated — takes its name from Douay, where 
the translators resided, and where this Bible was first published. 

3 



18 

them that it is from an interest in their best welfare that we 
desire them to read the Bible, and not from hatred to their 
Church. The truths "of the Scripture are " mighty to the 
pulling down of strongholds." Often, a Bible would be re- 
ceived by a Roman Catholic, if unaccompanied with a denun- 
ciation of the Church. The British Bible Society, by pur- 
suing a mild, gentle, and conciliatory course in this matter, 
has gained many Bible distributors in Roman Catholic coun- 
tries. 

Those who have written on the subject, we fear, have not 
always been careful to state the exact truth relating to the 
difficulties existing in such countries concerning the free use 
of the Bible. In our last number we noticed some recent 
evidences of a disposition amongst the Roman Catholics to 
furnish the Bible to all who desired to possess copies. Many 
more such facts might be mentioned. 

There is another subject intimately connected with the 
above, and deserving particular attention. We mean the 
tone of exaggeration in which Protestant writers have too 
often indulged relative to the scarcity of copies of the Bible 
before the Reformation. Contrasted with the meridian splen- 
dor of our present privileges, those were indeed the dark 
ages. Yet there were always bright stars shining ever during 
that midnight darkness. Whilst rejoicing in the freedom of" 
access to the sacred Scriptures which so many now enjoy, 
justice has not been done to those who in former times pre- 
served the Scriptures with care and fidelity, and handed 
them down to us so free from alteration or corruption. The 
popular belief, that, before its translation by Luther, the Bible 
was a sealed book, but little known and lightly prized, care- 
fully kept from the people by the Church, and never read 
except by the learned, and in a language which none but the 
learned could understand, is based on the too highly colored 
statements of enthusiastic partisan historians. Whilst we are 
ready to express our unqualified belief, that the fullest and 
freest circulation and use of the Bible are the legitimate fruits 
of the Reformation alone, we cannot but thank God that 
even in the darkest days there were many more than is 
generally supposed, who were interested in the preservation 
and perusal of the sacred Scriptures. 

Probably no recent writer has done so much to confirm 
the common error respecting the scarcity of the Scriptures 
before the Reformation as D'Aubigne, in his fascinating 



19 

History. The very great popularity which that work has had 
in this country, possessing as it does all the interest (and, we 
fear, some other characteristics) of a work of fiction, renders 
it important that his statements be scrutinized and set right. 

Speaking of Luther in the year 1503, he says : — " The 
young student spent in the library of the university the 
moments he could snatch from his academical labors. 
Books being then scarce, it was, in his eyes, a great privi- 
lege to be able to profit by the treasures of this vast collec- 
tion. One day (he had been then two years at Erfurth, and 
was twenty years of age) he w 7 as opening the books in the 
library one after another, in order to read the names of the 
authors. One which he opened in its turn drew his atten- 
tion. He had not seen any thing like it till that hour. He 
reads the title, — it is a Bible ! a rare book, unknown at 
that time. His interest is strongly excited ; he is filled with 
astonishment at finding more in this volume than those frag- 
ments of the Gospels and Epistles which the Church has 
selected to be read to the people in their places of worship 
every Sunday in the year. Till then, he had thought that 
they were the whole word of God." # 

This highly rhetorical representation has been received, by 
most of the readers of the work who are not French, as sober 
truth. But a careful consideration of what is therein asserted, 
and an examination of the facts relating to the subject, will 
show the falseness and absurdity of D'Aubigne's statement. 
The Bible a rare book, unknown at that time ! What other 
book was so well known, or so highly prized by the wise and 
good ? Let us seek a true view of the matter. 

From the time when the sacred penmen closed their 
labors down to the present day, there has never been any 
book or collection of books preserved with such assiduous 
care as the sacred Scriptures. God, having revealed his 
will and purposes through his commissioned messengers in 
olden time, committed the record of that revelation to human 
keeping, and through the agency of the written word has he 
wrought out most of those great changes in the condition of 
the world which have so blessed the human race. Until the 
middle of the fifteenth century, when Guttenberg gave to 
the world the invaluable art of printing, copies of the Bible 
could only be multiplied by the slow and costly process of 

* History of the Great Reformation, &c, &c., Vol. I. p. 131. First 
American Edition. New York. 12mo. 1841. 



20 

transcribing. Yet there were always those who were ready 
and willing to give themselves to the service. Industrious 
scribes, secluded in monastic cells, cheerfully devoted their 
lives to the work of carefully copying the sacred Scriptures. 
The fidelity and beauty with which they performed this duty 
justly excite the admiration and praise of all who have ex- 
amined specimens of their industry and skill. No books 
were copied with so much care and beauty as the Bible, the 
Psalter, and the Service-Book, which contained portions of 
the sacred Scripture. These were generally written on the 
most costly and delicate vellum, illuminated by the best skill 
of the artist, and adorned with a binding on which gold and 
gems were profusely lavished. Some Biblical manuscripts 
were written in letters of gold on the richest purple vellum. 
Sometimes the covers were of exquisitely carved and inlaid 
ivory. When the Northern barbarians invaded the South 
during the Middle Ages, they caused thousands of these 
beautiful and valuable manuscripts to be destroyed. Nor did 
monasteries and manuscripts fare much better from the in- 
discriminate zeal of the early Reformers, and the carelessness 
or superstition of others in later times. It is remarkable, 
when we consider the great destruction of manuscripts, that 
so many should now be found to attest the industry, skill, 
and fidelity of the scribes in the Middle Ages. 

During the early part of the Reformation in England, the 
monasteries were rifled of their contents, and many beautiful 
manuscripts mutilated or burned. Quaint old Fuller, after 
declaring that, no doubt, many of these may have been works 
of superstition, exclaims, — cc But beside these, what beautiful 
Bibles ! Rare fathers, subtle schoolmen, useful historians ! 
Ancient ! Middle ! Modern ! What painful comments 
were here amongst them ! What monuments of mathematics 
all massacred together ! " 

In later times, twenty-five thousand manuscripts are said 
to have been destroyed in France in a single year. When 
search was made, during the last century, for the costly and 
valuable Biblical manuscripts procured by Cardinal Ximenes, 
to be used in preparing his Polyglot, it was ascertained that 
they had been sold for a paltry sum to a rocket-maker ! 

Many manuscripts were used, after the invention of printing, 
by bookbinders. The oldest fragments of a Biblical manu- 
script known to be in this country were obtained as the 
covers of a more modern book, purchased by President 



21 

Everett in Constantinople in 1819, and now in the library of 
Harvard University. The large number of manuscripts still 
to be found in the public and private libraries of Europe, 
notwithstanding the enormous wilful and accidental destruc- 
tion, leads us to modify somewhat our notion of the igno- 
rance and indolence of the Middle Ages. Even during those 
days of degradation and darkness, the principal monasteries 
had their libraries, and the glory of the library was its mag- 
nificent Bible or Bibles. It was a well-known maxim, for 
centuries, that " a monastery without a library is like a 
castle without an armoury."* 

But it may be asked, Was not all this labor and beauty 
bestowed upon a book which only a privileged few could 
enjoy ? Was not the Bible carefully kept from all but the 
priests, and its general use strictly prohibited by the Church ? 
Was not the Latin Vulgate the only version, and this in a 
language which the common people could not understand ? 
Certainly not. That there were some restrictions concern- 
ing the use of the Scriptures, and that the Church always re- 
tained the sole right of interpretation, is undeniable ; but 
these restrictions before the Reformation were not as great 
as has generally been represented. The fact, that vernacular 
versions had been made in nearly every country where Chris- 
tianity was received, shows conclusively that the people read 
the Scriptures. One incident in English history, about a cen- 
tury before the time of Luther, is sufficient to cover this 
whole matter. When the spread of the Lollard heresy (so 
called) had alarmed the defenders of church and state, a 
motion was made in the House of Lords to suppress Wick- 
liffe's translation of the Bible. "Old John of Gaunt, time- 
honored Lancaster," in defending the free use of this and 
other vernacular versions, is reported to have said, — " We 
will not be the dregs of all, since other nations have the law 
of God, which is the law of our faith, written in their 
own language " ; at the same time declaring, in a very 
solemn manner, that cc he would maintain our having 
this law in our own tongue, against those, whoever they 
should be, who first brought in the bill." The Duke was 
seconded by others, who said, that, " if the Gospel, by its 

* " Claustrum sine arrnario, quasi castrum, sine armamentario." Peignot, 
Diet, de Bibliolog., Vol. I. p. 77. This, according to Dibdin, (Bibliomania, 
p. 149,) refers to the sixth century. By a reference to Henry's History of 
Great Britain, (Book III. ch.iv. sec. 1,) it will be found that the same maxim 
was in use in England at a much later period. 



22 

being translated into English, was the occasion of men's 
running into error, they might know that there were more 
heretics to be found among the Latins than among the people 
of any other language. For that the Decretals reckoned no 
fewer than sixty-six Latin heretics, and so the Gospel must 
not be read in Latin, which yet the opposers of its English 
translation allowed. Upon which, it is said, the bill was 
thrown out of the House." # Was the Bible, before the 
invention of printing, the rare and restricted volume that 
many suppose it to have been ? 

A new era in the history of Bible circulation commenced 
about the middle of the fifteenth century, when greatly in- 
creased facilities for the multiplication of copies were afford- 
ed, by the invention of the art of printing. There is great 
significance in the fact, that the first fruits of the printing- 
press were offered to the world in the form of a magnificent 
folio Bible. 

The Mazarin Bible deserves a somewhat minute descrip- 
tion. It is a volume of great interest as a rare typographical 
curiosity, and especially from the fact, that it was not only the 
first Bible, but the first book, ever printed. Not many of 
our readers have probably had the gratification of seeing the 
precious volume. Only twenty copies are known to be now 
extant, and although one of these has, by the good taste and 
generosity of a private individual, been brought to this coun- 
try, its destination to a private library renders it inaccessible 
to all but a privileged few. The copy of this rare Bible 
alluded to was purchased at the sale of the library of Mr. 
Wilkes in London, in March, 1847, by Mr. George P. 
Putnam, for Mr. James Lenox, of New York, in whose 
valuable library it now reposes. The price was £ 500. The 
duties and expenses made the cost in this country not far 
from $ 2500. It is undoubtedly the most costly, as well as 
the oldest, printed book in this country. 

This volume derives its name from the circumstance, that 
a copy was discovered and brought to light by De Bure, 
the bibliographer in the library of Cardinal Mazarin. The 
date of printing is nowhere to be found in the work, but its 
priority to all other printed books has been established beyond 
reasonable doubt, by the Rev. Dr. Dibdin, in a learned 
disquisition communicated to the Classical Journal. f By a 

* Lewis's Complete History of Translations, p. 28. 
t Vol. IV. No. 8, pp. 471-484. 



23 

curious manuscript memorandum in the copy at Paris, it ap- 
pears that that copy was illuminated, rubricated, and bound 
by Henry Cremer, vicar of the Collegiate Church of St. 
Stephens, in 1456. 

Guttenberg, the printer of this volume, and the inventor of 
the art, was of noble birth, though his fortune was not large. 
It has excited the wonder of nearly every bibliographer and 
historian of the art of printing, that he should have hazarded 
so much, and taken so bold a flight, as this attempt to pub- 
lish so costly a work in the infancy of the art. Before he 
had printed twelve sheets, he had expended more than four 
thousand florins, — an immense sum in those days. Being 
unable to continue the work from his own resources, he ap- 
plied to a rich goldsmith by the name of Fust (sometimes 
spelt Faust and Faustus). With him he formed a partner- 
ship ; but Fust, becoming dissatisfied, sued his partner, and 
obtained possession of the press, types, moulds, and utensils, 
on which he previously held a mortgage. This was soon 
after the completion of the Bible. It consisted of two huge 
folio volumes, printed in double columns, with a very large, 
clear Gothic or German character. The beauty of the type, 
the excellence of the paper, and the general splendor and 
magnitude of the volumes, have won the admiration and 
praise of all writers who have given attention to the subject. 
u It was," says Mr. Hallam, " Minerva leaping on earth in 
her divine strength and radiant armour, ready at the moment 
of her nativity to subdue and destroy her enemies. We 
may see, in imagination, this venerable and splendid volume 
leading up the crowded myriads of its followers, and implor- 
ing, as it were, a blessing upon the new art, by dedicating its 
first fruits to the service of Heaven." Was it a rare book, 
generally unknown, but lightly prized, and prohibited to the 
people, on which the first printer spent so much time, toil, 
and money ? 

After his dissolution with Guttenberg, Fust formed a 
copartnership for the purpose of carrying on the business 
with his son-in-law, Peter Schoeffer, who had been an 
apprentice to the former firm. They printed, in the 
year 1457, among other things, a beautiful folio Psalter, 
which is distinguished, in the annals of bibliography, as 
the first book bearing the date of its imprint. They 
also printed, in 1462, the first Bible with a date. It was 
this edition of 1462, and not the first Bible, as is gener- 



24 

ally supposed, which Fust offered for sale in Paris as 
manuscript. The exact similarity of the copies, together 
with the cheapness and rapidity with which he was enabled 
to supply them, led the purchasers to the supposition, that 
the Devil must be associated with the Bible-seller in his busi- 
ness. The rich goldsmith and printer was glad to escape 
from Paris with his life. 

The printing-press had been in operation half a century. 
Nearly two hundred editions of the entire Bible in the 
Latin Vulgate version had been printed ; numerous editions 
of vernacular versions had been prepared and published for 
Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, and Bohemia ; 
and a distinguished ecclesiastic of the last-named country had 
declared, some time previous, that scarcely a Bohemian 
woman could be found who could not answer any ques- 
tions respecting either the Old or the New Testament, # 
when, according to D'Aubigne, Luther discovered a Bi- 
ble, u a rare book, unknown at that time " ! Was all this 
work of Bible publication going on without the knowledge 
or contrary to the canons and edicts of the Church of Rome ? 
Facts will not warrant such a conclusion. As early as 1471, 
the Bible was printed at Rome, within sight of the Vatican, and 
with the knowledge of the Pope ; and, the next year, another 
edition was published there in seven folio volumes, with the 
commentary of Nicolas de Lyra, — the first commentary 
on the Scriptures ever printed. At the time when Luther 
is said to have made the discovery, Sanctes Pagninus, a 
learned Catholic ecclesiastic of the order of St. Dominic, 
was engaged at Rome in making a new Latin translation of 
the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek. The Pope, 
on learning the fact, sent for the translator, and after ex- 
amining a portion of the manuscript, ordered that the whole 
should be transcribed at his expense, and gave direction that 
materials should be provided for printing it.f 

At the same time, Cardinal Ximenes, amidst the great 
cares and responsibilities which devolved upon him in his 
ecclesiastical and civil offices, was devoting a portion of his 
precious time and best abilities to the preparation of that 
wonderful work, the Complutensian Polyglot. It is difficult 
for us fully to appreciate the munificence of his patronage, 
the magnitude of the undertaking, or the difficulty of its exe- 

* Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature, p. 526. 
t Roscoe's Leo the Tenth, Vol. II. p. 282. 



25 

cution. Some idea of these may be formed, when we con- 
sider that the work consists of six large folio volumes, 
printed in Hebrew, Greek, Chaldee, and Latin ; that, as 
there were no types in Spain in the Oriental character, artists 
were imported from Germany to cast the types in the various 
languages required, and that fifteen years were employed in 
its completion. Nine scholars well skilled in the ancient 
tongues were employed, and at the close of each day met 
and deliberated with the Cardinal concerning the work. 
Ximenes, that he might be better able to superintend the 
publication, commenced at the age of sixty years the study 
of Hebrew. No care or expense was spared on the work. 
Four thousand gold crowns were paid for seven Hebrew 
manuscripts, which, however, unfortunately came too late to 
be of any use in the compilation. The entire cost of prepara- 
tion and publication, amounting to the enormous sum of fifty 
thousand ducats, was defrayed by the liberality of the wealthy 
Cardinal. " A noble monument of piety, learning, and mu- 
nificence, which entitles its author to the gratitude of the 
whole Christian world." 

Many others, among the hundreds of editions of the Bible 
which were printed in the fifteenth century, are worthy of 
particular notice. For accuracy and beauty of typography, 
they will advantageously compare with the best specimens of 
modern times. Sometimes the skill of the engraver was em- 
ployed to adorn the page of the printer. Our limits will not 
allow us further to specify or describe these early Biblical 
productions of the press. But the pages of Pettigrew, Dib- 
din, Home, and other bibliographers, will confirm the truth 
of our remarks respecting the number and excellence of these 
ante-Lutheran editions. 

The fact, that copies of the Bible were so rapidly multi- 
plied and so readily sold, is sufficient, we should think, to 
convince any reasonable person, that a general interest was 
felt in the Scriptures, and that their extensive circulation and 
free use did not suffer from any hostile interference or pro- 
hibition of the Roman Church. That Church was then 
omnipotent in such matters, and could easily have crushed 
any attempts to act contrary to its wishes or regulations. 
No Protestant party existed to dispute its authority. That 
no desire was at that time felt to suppress the reading of the 
Bible is manifest from the circumstance, that the highest dig- 
nitaries of the Church of Rome were the patrons and pro- 
4 



26 

moters of its publication. If, in doing this, they unwittingly 
furnished the weapon which was eventually to accomplish the 
overthrow of their power, their case is not without a parallel 
in the annals of history. 

The occasional passage of a prohibitory edict respect- 
ing the reading of the Bible does not invalidate the view 
taken above. These edicts were of a limited and local 
character. A particular version was condemned because 
the author's name was associated with some new heresy ; 
or the laity of a certain diocese w T ere altogether forbidden 
to read the Bible, on account of some prevailing error, 
supposed to have been derived therefrom. But no general 
decree of the Roman Catholic Church, denying to the people 
the privilege of reading the Scriptures, can be found before 
the Reformation. 

We would not, by any means, be understood as enter- 
taining the opinion that the Bible was nearly as well known, 
or generally read, before the Reformation, as since. The 
contrast between the most favorable portion of the fourteenth 
or fifteenth centuries, and any period after the Reformation 
was fully established, is very great. But the ignorance and 
destitution of former ages, we maintain, were never so great 
as have been generally represented. We would do justice 
to those industrious scribes, early printers, and liberal patrons, 
by whose means copies of the Scriptures were preserved and 
multiplied. We believe that the Bible has always been 
watched over and preserved by Divine Providence. Whilst 
w T e gladly own that its free circulation has been greatly pro- 
moted by the effects of the Reformation, we would call to 
mind the fact, that the Reformation owes its origin and suc- 
cess to the knowledge of the Bible which previously existed. 
The influence, undoubtedly, was reciprocal. But too often 
cause and consequence have been transposed. The glory 
which has encircled the brow of Luther, as the deliv- 
erer of the Bible from bondage and darkness, should be 
transferred to the Bible. It was this volume which, first 
shedding its divine light upon his mind, furnished him with 
the motives and weapons of his warfare. 

Since the Reformation, the Bible has sometimes received 
violent treatment from the Roman Church. But the authority 
of the Bible has never been denied. The controversy be- 
tween the Reformers and the Roman Catholics has not been 
so much concerning the character of the volume, as on the right 



27 

of interpreting and deciding on its contents. The Romanists 
claim the exclusive right to exercise this prerogative. By 
tradition, its true meaning, has always, they maintain, been 
preserved in the infallible Church alone, and it is the duty of 
the Church to guard against incorrect translations and false 
interpretations. Sometimes this prerogative has been exer- 
cised in a summary way. The Reformers, in theory, as- 
serted the right and duty of each individual to interpret the 
Scriptures according to his own private reason and con- 
science. Perhaps there is not, in practice, so much differ- 
ence between Roman Catholics and most Protestant sects, 
respecting the use and authority of the Bible, as would at 
first appear. Each has its favorite version, and will not en- 
courage the circulation of any other. 

In our language, the Roman Catholic receives the Douay 
version, the only English translation authorized by the Church. 
He looks upon all others with distrust, as false and heretical. 
Many Protestants consider our common English Bible as 
of nearly equal authority with the original text, and frown 
upon all attempts to offer the English reader an improved 
version. The Bible society or Christian sect that should 
presume to circulate any other English version of the Scrip- 
tures than that prepared more than two hundred years ago, 
would be pronounced heretical, and rendered liable to the 
anathemas of a vast majority of the Protestant Christians in 
the country. Even the large and respectable denomination 
of Baptists, whose strenuousness relative to the rendering 
of the word /3a7rri£a> in foreign translations led to a rupture 
with the parent institution, and the formation of a separate 
Bible Society, has not dared to alter the English version 
in its issues, though deeming the rendering of the word 
unsatisfactory. 

The Roman Catholic condemns as a heretic the person 
who discovers and defends an interpretation of the Scrip- 
tures different from that which the Church allows. The 
Protestant, maintaining, in theory, the right of private judg- 
ment, too often excommunicates the inquirer whose active 
mind finds a meaning to God's word not contained in the 
creed of the sects. All those are considered heretics by 
the Calvinists who find more or less in the Bible than the 
doctrines proclaimed as truth by the Westminster Assembly 
of Divines, and contained in that wonderful work, " The 
Shorter Catechism." Other sects, also, have their tests. 



28 

It is sad to see this bondage to creeds, which brings the 
individual's interpretation of the Scriptures to be tested by 
the standard of a sect, and assigns him a place with believ- 
ers or infidels according to its agreement or disagreement 
with that standard. 

Yet there is, we are persuaded, a powerful modifying in- 
fluence exerted by the Bible, wherever the volume is re- 
ceived and read, which practically nullifies the effect of many 
false doctrines, tacitly assented to by thousands, though sel- 
dom, we hope, believed in the heart. How often has it been 
found, when two Christians of opposite creeds have entered 
into a personal explanation, that the supposed difference in 
their religious views has vanished ! Both are orthodox and 
both are liberal, according to the explanations given. Their 
motives, affections, and hopes are nearly the same. 

The controversy between Romanists and Protestants re- 
specting the Bible did not, we repeat, arise from difference 
of opinion as to its value or authority, but related entirely 
to the right of interpretation. The Romanist founds his 
faith on the Bible, the traditions of the Church, and the de- 
cisions of councils. The Protestant appeals to the Bible 
as alone sufficient to decide all questions of faith and prac- 
tice. One of the important objects of Luther, therefore, 
was to furnish his followers with a satisfactory translation in 
German. This was published in parts, as they were ready, the 
first appearing in 1522, and the entire Bible in 1534. It is 
the commonly received opinion among Protestants, that the 
general circulation of the Bible commenced with this trans- 
lation. But it will be found by a reference to what follows, 
that nearly a thousand different printed editions of the whole 
or a portion of the Bible had appeared before the publica- 
tion of Luther's version. 

Hain and Panzer are justly considered the highest author- 
ities in matters pertaining to bibliography and typography 
for the first two centuries after the invention of printing. 
Hain describes only works printed in the fifteenth century. 
By reference to his Repertorium Bibliographicum, it will 
be found that he enumerates and describes 148 different 
editions of the entire Bible, besides 129 Testaments, Psalms, 
or other parts of the Scriptures, — making 277 separate edi- 
tions of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, before 1501. 

Panzer specifies, between the years 1501 and 1534, (when 
Luther's Bible was first printed entire,) 141 editions of 



29 



the Bible complete, 65 editions of the New Testament, and 
343 editions of the Psalms, or other books of the Bible, — 
making in all 549 editions of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, 
between 1501 and 1534. By adding these to the number 
of editions described by Hain, we have an aggregate of 826 
editions of the Bible, or parts thereof, printed before the 
appearance of Luther's German version. A large number 
of these Bibles were in the vernacular tongues of the vari- 
ous countries of Europe. 

It should be borne in mind, that Hain and Panzer have 
mentioned in their works only the editions which they could 
identify with a good degree of certainty. Undoubtedly there 
were many others ; but enough are here given to show the 
absurdity of D'Aubigne's statement respecting the scarcity 
of the Bible before Luther's discovery of a copy of the 
" rare book " in the library at Erfurth, and the incorrect- 
ness of the popular belief, that, until the translation of Luther 
appeared, the Scriptures were only read by the priests and 
the learned in the Latin tongue. We have constructed the 
following table, to show the number of Bibles that were 
printed on the Continent before the opening of the sixteenth 
century. It contains only those editions of the entire Bible 
which have been particularly described. 

Tabular View of Bibles printed in the Fifteenth Century. 



Where printed. 


No. of 
Editions. 


Number of Editions printed 


in each Year. 


Venice, 


36 


1455, 1. 1480, 8. 


1491, 6. 


Basle, 


18 


1462, 1. 1481, 4. 


1492, 5. 


Nuremberg, 


14 


1466, 2. 1482, 3. 


1493, 1. 


Strasburg, 


10 


1470, 1. 1483, 6. 


1494, 6. 


Cologne, 


9 


1471, 4. 1484, 2. 


1495, 2. 


Augsburg, 


7 


1472, 1. 1485, 3. 


1496, 1. 


Paris, 


7 


1475, 8. 1486, 4. 


1497, 5. 


Lyons, 


6 


1476, 5. 1487, 7. 


1498, 4. 


Mentz, 


3 


1477, 8. 1488, 2. 


1499, 0. 


Naples, 


2 


1478, 5. 1489, 7. 


1500, 4. 


Rome, Florence, and ) 
other places, ) 


36 


1479, 5. 1490, 3. 












Without date, 24. Total, 148. 


Total, 


148 



With the progress of the Reformation, the multiplication 
of copies of the Bible rapidly increased. The early Re- 
formers soon found that the instrument which they had used 
with such power and success in their attacks upon the faith 



30 

and practice of the mother Church could be turned against 
themselves. For God did not reveal all his truth to them 
at once. It broke forth by degrees. They, not compre- 
hending this fact, soon began to establish creeds and tests, 
and to persecute all whose interpretation of the Bible varied 
from these standards of truth which they had set up. The 
sad tale of Servetus's sufferings has often been told, but his 
connection with the publication of the Bible has not been 
associated with his martyrdom as it should have been. Cal- 
vin and Servetus, as is well known, were once warm friends. 
They had early renounced the authority of the Church of 
Rome, but Servetus went farther than his companion in re- 
jecting its errors. The doctrines of Transubstantiation and 
of the Trinity were both held as essential truths by the Cath- 
olic Church. Calvin rejected the former, and retained the 
latter. Servetus rejected both. Their friendship was at an 
end. Servetus, though by profession a doctor of medicine, 
frequently indulged his taste for theological pursuits. He 
published several treatises on doctrinal subjects. The copy 
of Pagninus's version of the Bible, with the author's manu- 
script corrections, coming into his hands, he undertook to 
edit its publication. He prefixed a preface, or address to 
the reader, and added some short notes. These were sup- 
posed to contain heretical sentiments. The book was con- 
demned and the author imprisoned. Having escaped from 
prison, he imprudently visited Geneva. He was betrayed 
by Calvin, and, having been tried and convicted for heresy, 
was condemned to be burnt to death. The Catholics and 
Calvinists for the first time united to consign a Unitarian to 
the flames. All the copies of the Bible of his edition that 
could be found were burnt in the same fire which consumed 
his body. 

Instances might be multiplied of the destruction of Bibles 
by Catholics and Protestants, sometimes on account of the 
supposed false or heretical translation, and at others for their 
typographical errors. 

Probably in no country, after the Reformation com- 
menced, was the free circulation of vernacular versions at- 
tended with so much difficulty as in England. This may 
have arisen from the fact, that Henry the Eighth renounced 
his allegiance to Rome from policy rather than from princi- 
ple. He, and not the Pope, was to be regarded as the head 
of the Church. The monarch was in doubt as to the effect 



31 

which the general reading of the Bible would have upon his 
claims to this office. On that account he wavered in his 
opinions. One day he encouraged the people to study the 
Scriptures ; the next, he forbade their general use. No con- 
fidence could be placed in the permanence of any of his 
decisions. But at length all restriction on their perusal was 
removed, and they have attained a circulation greater in the 
English language than in all others combined. 

Let it not be thought, because we have attempted to show 
that before the Reformation copies of the Bible were not 
so scarce as has been erroneously represented, that we are 
insensible to the high privileges which the present age enjoys 
in relation to the sacred volume. Nor because we have in- 
timated that Protestants too often, in practice, violated the 
spirit of their cherished maxim, — tc The Bible, the Bible 
only, is the religion of Protestants," — and have required other 
tests, that we undervalue the efforts of the early Reformers, 
or lightly prize the position which Protestant Christians now 
occupy. An untold amount of influence was, we believe, 
exerted by the Bible in the darkest period of the Middle 
Ages. The Reformation, civilization, the arts, sciences, 
and every thing that cheers and blesses the world, owe their 
existence, either directly or indirectly, to the Bible ; and 
the doctrines of that volume, we feel confident, are sufficient 
to overcome all errors, and establish on earth in God's own 
good time his kingdom of righteousness and truth. 

We bring our remarks to a close with the words of Mil- 
ton : — u We shall adhere close to the Scriptures of God, 
which he hath left us, as the just and adequate measure of 
truth, fitted and proportioned to the diligent study, memory, 
and use of every faithful man, whose every part consenting, 
and making up the harmonious symmetry of complete in- 
struction, is able to set out to us a perfect man of God. 
And with this weapon, without stepping a foot farther, we 
shall not doubt to batter and throw down Nebuchadnezzar's 
image, and crumble it like the chaff of the summer threshing- 
floors." 



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